Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants state handgun registry

Mayor Rahm Emanuel today said he wants state lawmakers to approve a statewide handgun registry.

The request immediately ran into staunch opposition in Springfield, where gun control issues are often as much about geography as partisanship.

Rep. Brandon Phelps, who has championed efforts to pass a concealed weapons bill in Illinois, said the mayor’s office called him Thursday morning to let him know the registration proposal would be introduced.

“Number 1, my first response was I don’t know why you’re trying to do this statewide because we don’t want your policies on us downstate,” said Phelps, a Southern Illinois Democrat from Harrisburg. “Number. 2, it’s never going to work. They’re trying to go after criminals. They’re never going to register their guns. They won’t pay the fee. “

Phelps called Emanuel’s initiative a “slap in the face of every law-abiding gun owner.”

The mayor said requiring handgun owners to register particular weapons would reduce the flow of illegal guns into Chicago from around the state by making it easier for police to figure out where they came from.

The registry proposal, which Emanuel said lawmakers will introduce in Springfield in coming weeks, would require anyone who buys a handgun to pay a $65 registration fee. To register a gun, a purchaser would need to provide his name and address, along with the weapon's serial number and the place and date of purchase. The registry would be in addition to the firearm ownership standards all gun owners must already meet.

Emanuel said he's aware it will be tough to get lawmakers from outside Chicago to go along with the idea of a gun registry.

"I didn't go into this because I thought it was a slam dunk. You don't need me for that," Emanuel said at a news conference with Police Supt. Garry McCarthy and others at a youth center in the Roseland neighborhood to announce the proposal. "You don't need my political capital for the easy things. You use your political capital for the tough things that are the right things to do."

But Emanuel said statistics show more than half the firearms recovered by Chicago police come from inside Illinois. "I'm introducing this because our law enforcement community, our parents, our community groups, our block and neighborhood watch groups, need a proper gun legislation to complement all the other activities we're doing," he said.

State Rep. Rosemary Mulligan, R-Park Ridge, will be one of the bill's sponsors in the House, Emanuel said, which he hopes will help give the proposal the bipartisan boost it needs to pass the legislature.

Critics are likely to point out that criminals who don't abide by gun laws are unlikely to register their weapons.

The Tribune is gathering reaction from state lawmakers and is asking Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn to weigh in as well. We'll update this story when we have more information.